Tashkent, 5 – 9 April 2025. Participation of the IAO leadership in the 150th Assembly of the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU).

In the context of the work of the 150th Assembly of the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU), a delegation of the Interparliamentary Assembly on Orthodoxy (IAO), led by the Secretary General, member of the Hellenic Parliament, Dr. Maximos Charakopoulos, and with the participation of the President of the IAO General Assembly, member of the Romanian Parliament, Mr. Ioan Vulpescu, traveled to Tashkent, from 5 to 9 April 2025. The IAO Advisor, Dr. Kostas Mygdalis, also participated in the delegation.

In fact, the IAO, in collaboration with the IPU and the King Hamad Global Centre for Peaceful Coexistence, organized a panel discussion on the topic: “Harnessing religious and ethical values to advance parliamentary dialogue and peaceful coexistence”. The panel discussion was attended by the President of the IAO General Assembly, Mr. Ioan Vulpescu, the Honorary President of the IPU and Member of the Senate of Italy, Mr. Pier Ferdinando Casini, the Member of the Senate of Australia, Ms. Deborah O’Neil, the Special Envoy of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees, former member of the Grand National Assembly of Turkey, Ms. Shafak Pavey, and the Executive Director of the King Hamad Global Centre for Peaceful Coexistence in Bahrain, Mr. Abdulla Al Manai. The discussion was summarized by Mr. Mokhtar Omar, Senior Advisor to the IPU Secretary General, while the role of moderator was shared by Mr. Fadi Daou, Executive Director of Globethics, and Dr. Sarah Markiewicz, IPU Advisor on Interfaith and Intercultural Dialogue.

The IAO Secretary General, in the meeting with the IPU Secretary General, Mr. Martin Chungong, emphasized: “In an era of violent upheavals on a global scale, where threatening revisionisms and the supremacy of power over law are once again manifesting themselves, the only way for humanity to survive is to commit to the high humanitarian principles of reconciliation, understanding and peaceful coexistence. Our responsibilities towards future generations are very great, so as not to hand over a world torn apart by strife and injustice. As Orthodox parliamentarians, we are trying to send this message to the international community, and we feel particular satisfaction that in this effort we are coordinating our steps with the IPU”. For his part, Mr. Martin Chungong praised the work of the IAO and strongly confirmed the IPU’s support for the upcoming initiatives.

Subsequently, the IAO leadership met with the President of the IPU, Speaker of the National Assembly of Tanzania, Ms. Tulia Ackson, whom was invited, as well as Mr. Chungong, to participate in the work of the 32nd IAO General Assembly, which will take place in June in Bucharest.

As part of the campaign to strengthen the IAO’s ties with national parliaments in sub-Saharan Africa, the IAO Secretary-General held meetings with the heads of parliaments of Ethiopia and Zambia.

At the meeting with the Speaker of the National Assembly of the Republic of Zambia, Ms. Nelly Mutti, he had the opportunity to inform her about the upcoming visit of an IAO delegation to Lusaka, the capital of the country, in order to participate in the commemorative events for the 60th anniversary of the Zambian Nation.

In the meeting with the Speaker of the National Assembly of the Republic of Zambia, Ms. Nelly Mutti, he had the opportunity to inform her about the upcoming visit of a delegation of the IO to Lusaka, the capital of the country, in order to participate in the anniversary events for the 60th anniversary of the National Uprising of Zambia. In the meeting with the President of the House of Federation of Ethiopia, Mr. Agegnehu Teshager, the IAO Secretary General had the opportunity to be informed about the religious demography and the ancient history of the early Christian communities of Ethiopia. The head of the interparliamentary institution proposed to the President of the Upper House of Ethiopia the exploration of the possibility of the Ethiopian Parliament’s participation in the work of the IAO by appointing an official parliamentary delegation with members of parliament from the House of the Federation, as well as the Ethiopian House of People’s Representatives (Lower House).

Meanwhile, a meeting was also held with the leadership of the Parliamentary Union of the Member States of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (PUIC), specifically the Secretary General, Mr. Mouhamed Khouraichi Niass from Senegal and the Deputy Secretary General, Mr. Ali Mohammadi Sijani from Iran.

Finally, the IAO leadership held a meeting with Mr. Abdulla Isa Al Mannai, Executive Director of the King Hamad Global Centre for Peaceful Coexistence (KHGC), based in Manama, the capital of Bahrain. The meeting was attended by the KHGC Advisor for International Cooperation, Mr. Ahmed Jaber Al Jaber, while the Senior Advisor to the IPU Secretary General, Mr. Mokhtar Omar, was also present.

Meeting with the Metropolitan of Tashkent

Earlier, the IAO Secretary General had the opportunity to meet with His Eminence Metropolitan of Tashkent and Uzbekistan, Mr. Vikentios. The Secretary General stated that “We are glad that we were given the opportunity to attend Mass on the day when the Russian Church commemorates Patriarch Tikhon, who lived through the first years of the persecution of Christians by the atheistic communist regime at the beginning of the 20th century. This day reminds us of the persecutions, exiles, suffering they endured, but also the self-denial shown by our Orthodox brothers in the countries of the Soviet Union and the so-called Eastern Bloc. And from this ordeal the Church emerged victorious, confirming once again the saying of Saint John Chrysostom: “The Church, when at war, wins.” The head of the IAO informed the hierarch of the Russian church about the diverse activities of the IAO, with Mr. Vikentios expressing his satisfaction with the existence of such an interparliamentary body focused on the values of the Orthodox faith, while declaring his support for the institution’s initiatives.

Presentation of Hagia Sophia Churches Volume in Tashkent

During the stay of the IAO delegation in Tashkent, a presentation of the volume “Hagia Sophia: The Churches of the Wisdom of God around the World” was held, in collaboration with the Greek Cultural Center of Tashkent. The event, which was held with great success and warmly welcomed by the President of the Greek Community in Tashkent, Mr. Kostas Politis, was attended, among others, by Ms. Katerina Notopoulou, member of the Greek parliamentary delegation to the IPU, as well as the members of the Russian parliamentary delegation to the IPU, Sergei Gavrilov and Aleksey Chepa.

Following the presentation, the IAO Secretary General made a statement on the national television channel of Uzbekistan, in which he expressed his joy “that we are in Tashkent, the capital of Uzbekistan, a country with which we have historical ties since the time of Alexander the Great. And we are particularly happy that there is still a vibrant Greek community here, as well as a significant Orthodox presence, mainly Russian-speaking, which – as Metropolitan of Tashkent and Uzbekistan, Mr. Vikentios, described to us – enjoys a regime of complete religious freedom”.